


A Cry For Blood

by MissBertinelli



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 03:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18792517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBertinelli/pseuds/MissBertinelli
Summary: Gotham AU. A young Helena Bertinelli returns to Gotham, secretly seeking revenge on those who murdered her family many years ago. As a GCPD detective investigating the Wayne’s murder, her world collides with an ambitious Oswald Cobblepot, hoping to climb to the ranks of power in the city. As fate and circumstance throw the pair together, this is the story of the Huntress & the Penguin.





	1. In The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I’ve had swimming around in my head for a long time. I absolutely loved Oswald in Gotham and Helena Bertinelli was a firm favourite of mine in the comics. This is my first attempt at fanfiction so please enjoy and all feedback / comments are most certainly welcome :)

Cry For Blood  
Chapter 1  
“In The Beginning”

 

Guilt is going to follow her around her whole life. She’ll end up mad at herself, and mad at the world.

The tiny droplets of water felt cool upon her flushed cheeks as she reached over the bathroom sink to turn the tap handle off. Stifling a yawn she stood perfectly still for a moment and frowned as she stared back at her reflection in the mirror. Her first few weeks at the GCPD were already starting to show their toll, small dark shadows forming underneath her eyes. The crime wave of the century the newspapers had reported. Translation to a homicide detective, no sleep and an abundance of paperwork. 

She never liked what she saw when she looked in the mirror anyway. The old Helena Bertinelli was gone. She was a façade, masking a great deal of pain. Masking her feelings. Masking her fears. But in her head? She was constantly drowning in memories of the worst day of her life, the day her family was murdered.

The sound of three gunshots echoing through the building followed by high pitched screams quickly jolted Helena out of her thoughts. A commotion outside…….how wonderful.

~~ 

As Helena made her way down the staircase she caught sight of Jim wrestling a gun from one of Gotham’s degenerates. Jim Gordon. Always playing the hero card. Despite his boy scout approach to law and order, she had grown to like Jim these first few weeks of working together. He was committed to Gotham. That she could respect.

“Next time, shoot the son of a bitch” Harvey yelled as she approached the two male detectives.  
“If I shoot, that sets everybody off” Jim argued. “Gunfire every each way”  
“Someone takes a cop’s gun, you shoot him. That’s basic. Right Helena?” Harvey turned to face her, looking for reinforcement of his words.  
As much as she hated being in the middle of another one of Jim and Harvey’s quarrels, she had to side with the older detective on this one. The world was cruel. She knew all too well of that fact. To survive you had to be cold. Cutthroat. Sometimes it was better to act first, ask questions later.  
“Gotta agree with Harvey Jim” she shrugged. “Rather be the Hunter than the prey”  
“See, kids not even been on the job a month and she already knows the score” Harvey scoffed to an exasperated Jim.  
“Hey Bullock” a voice cried over from the desk sergeant’s pen. “Double homicide, theatre district. Captain wants you to take Gordon & Bertinelli on this one”  
“Give me a break. Shift’s nearly over “ Harvey protested.  
“Yeah, nearly. But not quite”  
Helena sighed as she met Harvey’s scowl. Another night of no sleep and an abundance of paperwork. 

~~

The sound of wailing sirens pierced the night sky as Helena crouched underneath the police tape and made her way towards the crime scene. It was an eerie kind of darkness that night. As though someone had draped a pitch black curtain over the sky, not a single star shone. She glanced at the two body bags in front of her and swallowed hard. She couldn’t understand the world at times. So much death, so much of it senseless.  
“Tannenbaum, looking crisp” Harvey motioned towards the fellow officer at the scene. “What we got?”  
“Just got here myself. Male, female, gunshot. Their kid saw the whole thing. Hasn’t spoke a word yet”  
And that was when she saw him. The boy. Sitting on the bottom steps of the fire escape, trembling with fear. Trembling in pain and anguish. A reflection of herself that fateful night many years ago. Bullock’s voice faded into the night as she walked towards the young boy and knelt before him.  
“My names Helena Bertinelli” she offered. “I’m a detective. What’s your name?”  
“It’s okay you don’t have to talk” she continued as she pulled off the black trench coat she was wearing and wrapped it around the shivering boy’s shoulders .  
“Bruce” he sniffled through tears. “My name is Bruce Wayne”  
“Can you tell me what happened Bruce?”  
Bruce broke into fits of sobbing and Helena quickly jumped up to sit beside him and pull him into a tight embrace. It was all too familiar. If she closed her eyes she could still hear the deafening sound of the gunshot that claimed her mother’s life. The piercing screams from her brother Pino as the bullet took impact against his chest. The creaking of the dining room door as the wind threatened to blow it shut following the masked assassin’s departure. And the silence that followed as a young eight year old girl hid underneath a table and tried to understand the horrific nightmare that had just unfolded before her very eyes. All those years later it still hurt and that pain…..that pain was with her all of the time.  
“When I was just a little younger than you, a gunman broke into our house” Helena began. Maybe if Bruce knew she understood his pain he would open up to her. “He killed my parents. And my little brother. Right in front of me”  
“I know how you feel right now” she continued, leaning in to meet Bruce’s vision. “And I promise you, however dark and scary the world might be right now……there will be light. There will be light Bruce”  
“We just got out of the theatre” Bruce began as he wiped away tears from his eyes. “We were walking though the alley to catch an uptown cab……..and a man came out of the shadows. He was tall with a black mask. He had a hat and gloves…..and shiny shoes. He took my dads wallet and my mom’s necklace. And then he shot them for no reason. I should have done something. I should have the grabbed the gun. But I was too scared”  
“There was nothing you could have done to stop what happened” Helena shook her head. “You did the right thing. You’re alive. But there is something you can do now. You can be strong. Be strong Bruce. And I promise you, I will find the man who did this. I’ll do whatever it takes to find him”  
At that moment Bruce leapt to his feet and ran towards the man approaching them, falling into his outstretched arms.  
“Helena Bertinelli” she introduced herself.  
“Alfred Pennyworth” he replied as he held Bruce tightly.  
“We’re gonna get the guy who did this sir”.  
“New kid are you?” he questioned, studying the woman sceptically.  
“You could say that” she shrugged.  
“Good luck then miss”  
And with that Helena watched as Alfred led Bruce away. She had made a promise, now it was her duty to keep that promise. 

~~

Harvey was pissed. That much she had gathered as the three detectives rode in silence to a nearby diner.  
“Shouldn’t we be there when they move the victims?” Jim protested as she joined the two men  
“Why?” Harvey rebuffed the question as he threw his hat onto the table. “Oh and listen hotshot” he spat as he turned to face Helena. “Do me a favour and don’t start talking to witnesses until I say so”  
“He’s a kid” Helena snapped back. “ A scared kid that just watched his own parents get gunned down in front of him. Show some compassion”  
“Did the cops show you compassion after your parents were killed? Hmm? Is that why you’re here? To play Mother friggin Theresa?”  
Jim looked puzzled at the ongoing spat.  
“You mean to say you don’t know newbie here is the Anastasia of Gotham?” Harvey snorted as Helena pretended to scour the menu in annoyance. “And she’s just caught us a gigantic flaming ball of crap”  
“I just want to close this case quick” Helena argued as she motioned to the waitress for a cup of coffee.  
The mood continued to sour as Montoya & Allen from Major Crimes arrived, mainly to wind up Harvey about the case. There was obviously some sort of history there. Helena was just glad however that they were keeping the Wayne case. She couldn’t break that promise to Bruce.  
“Self righteous do gooding skell huggers” Harvey huffed as he knocked back the contents of the hip flask he kept hidden inside his coat. “Like they’re so friggin perfect”  
Helena rolled her eyes at Jim and turned her attention back to her coffee. The good times just kept rolling.

~~

She stood outside Captain Essen’s office with Jim as they listened to Bullock’s protests from inside. Something about changing diapers, boy scout nonsense and how he couldn’t go out in the field with a pair of kids.  
“Don’t think he likes us very much” Jim chuckled as Helena rolled her eyes.  
“I don’t think he likes anyone” she sighed. “He’s a cynic. A slovenly, lackadaisical cynic”  
“So what made you come back to Gotham after all these years?” Jim asked, taking Helena by surprise.  
“It’s my home” she shrugged after a short hesitation. “I wanted to come home” It wasn’t a complete lie. She had spent the best part of her childhood growing up in Gotham. It was her home. But that wasn’t the whole truth.  
Suddenly Harvey came storming out of the office, grabbing his coat that lay over the chair beside them.  
“She said you had to keep us, huh?” Jim smirked, enjoying the satisfaction of winning a point over the older detective.  
“Yeah, she did” Harvey nodded, his tone dripping in disappointment. “She said you’re a war hero. And your daddy was a big shot DA back in the olden days. So I have to keep my trap shut and do as I’m told. And you” he turned to face Helena. “Well lets just say everyone’s a bit on edge now that the mafia princess has returned home”.  
“Harvey” she growled as she took a step towards him. “Word of advice. Don’t EVER compare me to a mafia princess. I’m nothing like that”  
There was an uneasy moment of silence until Harvey finally piped up,  
“Okay then, you want to close this case quick…..lets go roust some muggers”

~~

Harvey seemed to soften towards her when he realised she had a natural affinity for roughing up criminals. Jim seemed more hesitant in crossing that line but the way Helena saw it, she was simply trying to find justice for poor Bruce. If a few black eyes on Gotham’s scum led to that justice then so be it. However their mission had been fruitless and the frustrated detectives returned to their desks.  
“Guess what this is?” A voice cried as a hand waving an evidence bag appeared before Helena’s face.  
Edward Nygma. She had quickly surmised that the vast majority of the GCPD wasn’t a fan of him. The Riddle Man they mocked behind his back. Yet she had found him to be nothing but polite and well mannered. Sure a little different but hey this was Gotham.  
“Just tell me Ed” Harvey sighed. “If I want riddles I’ll read the funny pages”  
“It’s a .45 caliber 300 grain cupronickel wadcutter” Ed began as he referred to the notebook me was holding in his hands. “Came out of Thomas Wayne’s chest”  
“That’s a six dollar bullet” Helena replied as she took the evidence bag from Ed and examined it carefully.  
“Uh huh….” Ed smiled. “What kind of gun…?  
“Ah ah ah” Harvey interrupted bluntly. “Don’t ask, just tell”  
“It’s from a pistol not known by our database. No prints either” he dejected.  
“What else you got?”  
“What’s nowhere but everywhere except where something is?”  
“Nothing” Helena answered proudly. Every day Ed had stumped her with his riddles but not today. She actually kind of enjoyed them.  
“You need professional help Nygma. Seriously ” Harvey sighed as he dismissed him.  
“So I’m thinking our man wears shiny shoes, uses high end ammo, and nobody on the street knows who he is?” Helena surmised as she followed Jim and Harvey down the stairs. “Maybe he’s not from the street?”  
“Like a debonair playboy robber does it for kicks” Harvey laughed.  
“No one would pretend to be a professional killer” Jim rose to Helena’s defence. “This is a professional killer or somebody with a personal grudge against the Wayne’s”  
“How would this professional know the Wayne’s would come down that alley though?” Harvey questioned, stumping the two detectives into silence. “Tell you what, Jim stay back and look into shops that specialise in that sort of ammo. Helena and I are going to see Fish Mooney”  
“Fish Mooney?” Helena questioned. “Works for Carmine Falcone?”  
“Yeh her. Theatre districts her turf. Anything happens there, she hears about it”  
Helena sighed. Mafia princess meets mafia queen. This was going to be fun. Little did she know it was going to be the prelude to the most important chapters of her life. 

~~

The rain was relentless that afternoon as Helena and Harvey made their way over to Fish Mooney’s. She glanced around curiously at the club as they waited on Fish. The décor left a lot to be desired, from the nasty velvet drapes on stage to the cheap scarlet lamps. If it wasn’t already a brothel it should be. Harvey didn’t seem bothered by the persistent screams from outside, hear no evil, see no evil he had shrugged to her annoyance.  
“Harvey” a sultry voice cried out. “Where have you been?”  
“Where haven’t I been?” Harvey chuckled as he embraced the woman.  
Helena eyed Fish cautiously, she instantly didn’t trust her. There was something about that devilish glint in her eyes and those feline like claws.  
“Who’s the friend?” Fish asked as she stood back to take all of Helena in.  
“Detective Helena Bertinelli ma’am”  
“My my, the Helena Bertinelli” she purred. “And aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. You know if you ever get bored of police work I could always use a good looking girl like you in the club”  
“Ma’am was that screaming we heard back there?” Helena snapped back irritably.  
“Yes, my boys are watching a scary movie”  
“Really?”  
“No” Fish glared. “Actually, one of my staff has been stealing money from me. So we’re beating his punk ass”  
“Relax junior” Harvey interrupted. “Fish gets some leeway. But if you’re worried, maybe you should go back there and see if anyone wants to press charges…..if that’s okay with Fish”  
“Mi casa es tu casa” she smirked as a furious Helena shook her head and stormed away towards the back alleyway. Whatever they were going to discuss regarding the Wayne case, it seemed Helena was not to be privy. She hated being treated like a child.  
“How’s everybody doing?” she questioned as she turned the corner to meet the group of men clearly knocking seven shades out of the bloodied figure on the ground.  
“Who are you?” the towering brute in a suit demanded.  
“Helena Bertinelli…..GCPD” she replied forcefully.  
“Oh you came with Harvey, huh? Glad to know you Helena. I’m Butch Gilzean”  
She turned to face the young man with the baseball bat in his hands. Their eyes met and in an instant Oswald was enchanted. She was beautiful. He found himself unable to take his eyes off her. Her body had the curves of an hourglass. And yet it was her eyes that drew him in immediately. They were dark. Dark as chocolate. Dark as coffee.  
“Drop the bat” she broke Oswald out of his thoughts as he dropped the weapon with an almighty clatter that echoed through the alleyway.  
“Oh cmon now, Oswald and Raul here were just having a little fun, weren’t you boys?” Butch  
“All in fun” Oswald laughed as he continued to stare at Helena. Sure he had been around plenty of good looking girls in the club but she really was beautiful. He was mesmerised.  
“No problem….fun” her eyes darted to the bloodied Raul on the ground, grimacing through the pain of his clear beating.  
“Wait a minute, Helena Bertinelli. As in the late Frank Bertinelli’s daughter?” Butch asked in a sudden realisation as to who she was.  
“Yeh that’s me” Her name was certainly causing quite a stir today.  
“I heard you were back in town. How you like being back in Gotham so far?”  
“Well enough” she shook her head and proceeded to walk away. She could still feel Oswald’s eyes on her as she strode back into the club. Never mind she told herself as she tried to shake him from her thoughts. She would probably never see him again.

~~

She slammed the empty wine glass back onto the table after devouring its liquid contents. That was another thing this job was teaching her, how to steadily fall into an comforting state of alcoholism night after night. She sighed as she rubbed her aching forehead, all she could think about was Bruce Wayne. 

I should have done something….but I was scared

It was ironic of Helena to reassure him that there was nothing he could have done to save his parents. Yet she continued to beat herself up every day for not doing anything either. She remembered that moment when her family’s killer stood in the doorway of their dining room. A moment she should have acted upon but didn’t. Paralysed with fear. Weak. That was how she felt then and how she felt right now. What if she couldn’t find the Wayne killer. She had made a promise to Bruce, a promise she was now terrified she wouldn’t be able to deliver. Maybe she was out of her depth in Gotham. The looks, the stares, the whispers behind her back anytime anyone figured out her surname. She eventually found sleep in the early hours of the morning only to be woken by a phone call from Jim. Harvey had gotten a tip from from Fish, one of her fences had got offered the sale of a pearl necklace matching the one stolen from Martha Wayne. Guys name was Mario Pepper.

~~

“Career street thug. Long sheet for robbery, assault, rape, extortion and drug dealing” Harvey listed as they climbed the winding staircase to the Pepper household,  
“Sounds like a stand up guy” Helena scoffed sarcastically as she knocked upon the door. To her surprise a young girl answered.  
“Hi” Helena crouched before her. “What’s your name?”  
“Ivy” the young girl answered. There was a eerie kind of sadness in the young girl’s eyes. Poor kid, Helena thought. Her hair was a frizzy, unkempt mess and the striped jumper she wore was a raggedy mess. Why did people have kids if they couldn’t look after them properly?  
“Ivy, is daddy home?” Helena asked.  
“You don’t want to talk to daddy” Ivy shook her head as she glanced back into apartment with worry. “He’s mean”  
At that point the door flew open to reveal Mr Pepper himself.  
“Mario Pepper, we need to talk”  
“I’ve done nothing” Mario shook his head, crumbs spitting from his mouth as he chose to speak with his mouth full of food.  
“So it’ll be a pleasant talk” Jim piped up from beside Helena.  
The flat was small and grubby as they made their way inside. The overpowering smell of plants hit Helena straight away as she noticed Ivy make her way over to the growing garden of green beside the window sill. Kid must like plants. As Jim questioned Mario, Helena turned her attention to Mrs Pepper, standing by the kitchen with her arms folder. She looked terrified. Terrified of her husband. Helena could recognise that look of fear etched on her face a mile away. It was the same one her mother used to wear. Mario jumping out of his chair and bounding out through the window onto the fire escape quickly broke Helena out of her thoughts as she watched Jim gave chase.  
“Cmon Helena” Harvey cried as he motioned for her to follow him back out the apartment door. Thank god they weren’t taking the fire escape, she hated heights. She ran as fast as she could down what felt like a never ending staircase and out the building, Harvey now flailing behind her. If Pepper had murdered the Wayne’s they had to catch him, he couldn’t get away. Turning the corner onto the back alleyway, Jim lay on the ground with Mario brandishing a knife inches above him. Without hesitation Helena reached for her gun and a single gunshot echoed through the streets as she killed Pepper instantly. Jim turned around and looked at her in shock as Harvey finally caught up to them.  
“Nice shoot kid” he congratulated her as he scrambled around his inside jacket pocket before pulling out his hip flask. “Better hope we find that necklace on him now”

~~

The next twenty four hours were a blur for Helena. The pearl necklace had been found amongst Pepper’s belongings. They had got him. The newspapers had hailed her as a hero cop as she featured on every front page alongside Harvey and Jim. ‘Hero cops slay Wayne killers’ read just one of the many headlines. But as she stood in the distance watching Bruce bury his parents at the Wayne funeral all she could feel was sadness. She knew exactly how he was feeling as he stood at his parents graveside. So many people around him yet he was truly alone in a crowd. Alfred led the young boy away from the crowds until they stopped before Helena.  
“You kept your promise” Bruce spoke as he wiped away the tears from his eyes. “Thank you”  
“I’m sorry you didn’t see a trial” she apologised. Although she wasn’t entirely sorry that she had been the one who shot Mario Pepper. Maybe that was the best form of justice. He was a killer, a man capable of beating his own wife and child, did he really deserve to live?  
“That’s okay” Bruce sniffed, holding back his tears as he offered out his trembling hand to her for a handshake. Helena ignored his hand and instead reached out, pulling the boy into a tight embrace before letting him go. She knew the long road that awaited him. 

 

~~

It had been a particularly draining day for Helena. Seeing Bruce at his parents funeral had once again brought back an array of bad memories for her. But she was relieved she had been able to deliver on her promise to him. At least she had brought about justice for someone. As she stepped into the alleyway behind her apartment a gentle breeze made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was watching her. She could sense it. She reached for her gun and spun round with her raised weapon in hand. And there he stood in front of her. Oswald Cobblepot.


	2. Friend Or Foe?

Fire On Fire  
Chapter 2  
Friend Or Foe?

“I know you” Helena growled as she carefully stepped closer towards Oswald, her gun still trained on him. “You work for Fish Mooney. You were the one beating some punk with a bat”  
“I apologise for that” Oswald’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “I was merely following Miss Mooney’s orders. I’m just…her umbrella boy you see”   
“Oh I think you’re a lot more than just an umbrella boy” Helena responded. Now that she stood mere footsteps away from him, she could see him clearly for the first time. His raven hair was a sharp contrast to his pale skin. Small freckles were splattered across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose and the suit he wore was clearly two sizes too big for him. However she did admire his taste for smart attire. She did always appreciate a man in a suit.  
“I’m so glad you see me like that” Oswald laughed, choosing to ignore the hint of sarcasm in her voice and instead cling to the hope that she did see him as much more than just an umbrella boy. “The Wayne murders must be bringing back terrible memories for you…”  
“What do you want Oswald?” she interrupted, wrapping her fingers even tighter around the edges of the trigger.  
“You could lower that gun for starters” he replied, motioning his head towards her weapon. “ I truly have no ill intentions towards you”  
“Then what are your intentions?” she snarled.  
“I’m here to help you” Oswald chuckled as he held up the newspaper that had been scrunched up tightly in his left hand. “Hero cops slay Wayne killer” he read as he revealed the front page to her. “Not the most flattering photo of you I admit, they could have picked a much better one” His eyes roamed her features for a moment as he licked his lips. Her leather jacket fell just short of her slender hips. What he wouldn’t give to be able to dig his fingers into those hips, her flesh.  
“Help me with what?” she demanded as she finally lowered her gun. If he tried anything she could always shoot him in the leg.   
“Mario Pepper was framed by Fish Mooney”  
“What?” she questioned, astonished at the claim he had just made to her.  
“I saw Miss Mooney with Martha Wayne’s necklace. She was discussing how to get it into Peppers home, inside a bag of drugs”  
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” she demanded.  
“You don’t” Oswald shrugged, the corners of his mouth curving into a small smirk. “ But you did find the necklace inside a bag of drugs didn’t you?”  
Helena was silent as she tried to process this information. Had Pepper been innocent all along?   
“Why are you telling me this? I thought Mooney was your boss?”  
Oswald took another step closer to her, close enough that she could see the dark shadows sweeping underneath his eyes.  
“Like I said detective, the Wayne murders must be bringing back some terrible memories for you” he smiled smugly as he turned to walk away. And with those final words he was gone.

~~

Helena knocked feverishly upon the door of the Pepper household. If Mario had been set up to take the fall for the Wayne murders she had to know.   
“Mrs Pepper” she started as the door opened to reveal Alice. The bruise Helena had noticed around her eye the other day had now turned a gruesome combination of purple and yellow.  
“Go away” the woman tried to push the door shut as Helena blocked it with her foot.   
“Ma’am, if your husband was innocent, you need to talk to me” Helena pleaded. At that Alice opened the door and allowed the detective to enter. Ivy watched on from a distance, still tending to her plants. There seemed to have been even more since the last visit.  
“If your husband didn’t kill the Wayne’s, how’d he come to have Martha Wayne’s necklace?” Helena asked.  
“You cops planted it on him” Alice accused as Ivy nodded in agreement.  
“Alice, how would the police have the necklace? We didn’t kill the Wayne’s”  
“So you say. Lord knows my husband had his demons but he never killed nobody”  
Helena sighed. After all those beatings surely Alice wouldn’t still defend her husband if she didn’t truly believe him to be innocent. But how to prove that? There had been no eyewitnesses in the alleyway that night. Bruce couldn’t see his face for the ski mask. 

Shiny shoes.

That was it. Bruce said he had worn shiny shoes.  
“Can I see his shoes?” Helena asked.   
Alice led her to the wardrobe in the bedroom where to Helena’s dismay there were no shiny shoes. A pair of trainers, tan desert boots, flip flops even but no shiny shoes. Oswald was right. Mario Pepper had been framed.

~~

“Framed?” Harvey spat as he removed his glasses and rubbed his brow. “Framed? How you figure? We were there? Did we frame him?. Did you frame him? Did soldier boy here frame him?”  
“No but somebody could have planted the necklace on Pepper for us to find” Helena defended her theory, she felt like a kid up against the school headmaster. “Fish Mooney could have set the whole thing up”  
“Why?”   
“To cover up for the real killer. Mooney works for Falcone, maybe Falcone wanted the Wayne’s dead. Maybe there was a conspir…”  
“Wait, wait, wait, why would such a nutty idea even enter your head?” Harvey erupted in anger.  
Helena bit her lip and remained quiet, she couldn’t very well tell him her source.  
“I’m going to take a leak” he slammed his hand upon the desk as he stood up. “And when I get back, this nonsense is dropped, you hear me? Just suppose for a moment, just suppose Pepper was innocent. You killed him Helena. Which means we killed him. We’d lose our jobs at the very least. Case is closed. Forget about it”  
Helena turned to look at Jim as Harvey stormed away, cursing the pair just loud enough for both of them to hear.   
“Who’s your source?” Jim pressed.  
“I can’t say” she shook her head. “Look Jim, call me crazy but I really don’t think Pepper killed the Wayne’s. Bruce said to me that night that the assailant wore shiny shoes. Pepper didn’t own any shiny shoes”  
Jim nodded, he seemed to be coming round to the idea of Helena’s theory. “We cant let the real killers stay out there. What you wanna do?”  
“I say we pay a visit to Fish Mooney” she beamed. 

~~

Helena and Jim marched into the club together with a quiet sense of purpose. The club was empty, except for a handful of waiters polishing glasses behind the bar and Oswald, quietly concentrating on what looked like the club’s account book.  
“Detective Bertinelli” Oswald seemed surprised as leapt from the bar stool to greet her. “How nice to see you again. Can I help you?”  
“Tell Mooney, I’m here” Helena stopped before him, trying to avoid direct eye contact. She couldn’t risk having Jim suspect Oswald was her source of information.  
“May I ask why” he pressed curiously.  
“No” she shot back as she stormed past him with Jim in tow, Oswald’s nervous jittering laugh fading as she barged into Mooney’s lavish office, two smartly dressed henchmen following them inside the room.   
“Well, well, if it isn’t Detective Bertinelli” Fish threw the pair a sharp look as she picked up the shot glass that sat on her desk. “And this must be Detective Gordon. To what do I owe this pleasure”  
“I need to know what you and Harvey spoke about that afternoon” Helena demanded bluntly. Straight to the point. There didn’t seem any reason to beat about the bush.  
“Shouldn’t you ask Harvey?” she grinned, raising the shot glass to her mouth and swallowing its liquid contents in one swift motion.   
“I’m afraid he’ll lie” Helena watched as Fish slammed the glass back onto the desk.  
“Hmm. And what makes you think I’ll tell the truth?”  
“What’s the name of the fence who gave you Mario Pepper?” Jim piped up from beside Helena.  
“Why do you ask?” Fish sneered in a guise of fake concern.  
“We’re looking into allegations Pepper was framed”   
“Framed” Fish threw her head back and laughed. “Who told you there was a frame?”  
“You just did” Helena replied as she met Fish’s icy, cold stare.   
“Well aren’t you just a little tornado of justice” the older woman purred as she stretched her legs from out behind her desk and stepped towards Helena. “Who would have thought it, a Bertinelli on the right side of the law. You have a little darkness in your eyes. I wonder what you plan on doing with it”  
“You’ll just have to wait and see” Helena smiled coyly as she turned to leave the room. She knew what was coming. On instinct she raised her arm to block Fish’s henchman’s fish and raised her other hand to punch him swiftly in the stomach. Kicking him in the shins, she turned to deliver a punch to the man grappling with Jim but instead felt a sharp blow to the back of her head, quickly knocking the detective to the ground. And then……darkness.

~~

The pain continued to wash through her head in waves. A sharp stabbing followed by a dull ache. She sometimes hated the way the world worked. How pain and hurt were so common yet smiles so fake and rare. How from all the emotions love had turned into the most manipulative and trust the most doubted. How nights were no longer for sleeping but for crying alone, hiding away from the entire world. How people could be scarier than ghosts and that monsters didn’t hide under the bed but instead lay within herself. But perhaps what she hated the most was that death seemed truly easier than life itself at times. She sometimes envisioned death on those long nights she failed to find any sleep. Would it help her find the peace and clarity she was searching for? She often wondered how she would die. Perhaps peacefully, sinking into a quiet state of slumber she would simply never wake from. Maybe as a hero, valiantly sacrificing herself for the greater good of humanity. Or maybe it was her current reality. Hanging upside down in chains in some dark, blood stained slaughterhouse on the outskirts of town. It seemed an increasingly likely option given the recent turn of events. Harvey had turned up and tried to reason with Butch, pleading with Fish to let his fellow detectives live . She had only made out snippets of Harvey’s phone conversation with Fish, something about an anonymous source tipping Helena off to the Pepper conspiracy. Harvey had seemed hopeful at the end of the call, promising her and Jim that they would all be going home soon., only for Butch to deliver a brutal punch and string Harvey up beside them.   
“Yo Franky! Show time!” Butch yelled as a masked brute in a chain mail vest appeared, brandishing a machete in either hand.  
Helena braced herself as she desperately tried to free herself from the shackles around her ankles. There was no escape. This really was how she was going to die. Whether it was fate or luck, the slaughterhouse doors burst open to a barrage of gunfire, instantly taking out the machete wielding maniac and a few of Butch’s associates. Butch’s hands flew up in surrender as a man Helena instantly knew appeared from around the corner. Carmine Falcone.

~~

“It’s good to see you again Helena” Carmine Falcone smiled as the pair walked into the adjoining corridors of the slaughterhouse. “You’ve grown into quite the beautiful woman. Maybe too beautiful. Like Helena of Troy all the great tragedies started with a face like yours. Last time I saw you, you had just turned eight years old. My daughter & I came to your birthday party”  
“I remember” Helena nodded. It had been one of her happiest childhood memories. Surrounded by family, surrounded by friends, colourful balloons, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. It seemed like a million years ago now. A different life.   
“I knew your father very well. He and I understood each other. There was respect, friendship, even”  
“Friendship?” Helena questioned.   
“Trust me, that’s the only reason you’re alive now” Falcone’s tone changed in annoyance at her disrespect. “ You have good blood Helena. And I don’t like to spill good blood. That’s why I’m giving you another chance. I know that when you leave here, you’ll do the right thing”  
“You think. I’ll tell what I know” she replied flatly.  
“Which is what?”  
“I know that you own the police department, probably the mayor too. And I was pretty sure that you had the Wayne’s killed. But if you did, you wouldn’t risk letting me live, would you. But then again how did Fish Mooney come to have Martha Wayne’s necklace? A replica?”  
“Yes” Carmine nodded.  
“But if you didn’t kill the Wayne’s, why frame Mario Pepper? Or are you covering up for someone else?” she pressed further.  
“Who knows who killed the Wayne’s. Some lowlife. It was a mugging, random fate. You and your partners might have found the culprit eventually but probably not. We needed someone before the funeral. Pepper was sacrificed so that the people of Gotham would see swift justice done. So they could feel safe and secure in their beds at night”  
“And that matters so much to you” Helena scoffed.  
“Don’t be so self righteous and arrogant my dear. It doesn’t suit you. I’m a business man remember, not an anarchist. You can’t have organised crime without law and order. There’d be chaos. Your father loved this city just like I do. But it’s going to hell. We got gangs, drugs dealers, rapists and robbers running the streets. And it’s getting worse each day. But I won’t let it fall without a fight”  
“You make a life of crime sound very noble”   
“This coming from the daughter of Frank Bertinelli”  
“I’m nothing like my father” she folded her arms across her chest and looked away.   
“You have a hard head Helena” Carmine smiled as he watched her stare at the ground below her feet. “ So tell me, why have you returned to Gotham after all these years?”  
“So you want me to keep quiet about this?” she changed the subject completely. Why did everybody want to know why she had came home?   
“Now that the Wayne’s are gone, Gotham is on a knife edge. What do you suppose bringing down city hall and the police force will do? Would it make things better? Just like if you were to find your family’s killer after all these years, would it really make things better?”  
Helena stared at the mob boss, he knew. She had long wondered if he had had anything to do with her family’s murder. He was the most powerful man in Gotham, he surely knew something?  
“At least Gotham would know the truth. At least I would know the truth” she answered.  
“Your father was a very wise man. He gave me some good advice once. I was angry over some disrespect that had been shown to me. Carmine my friend he said, in that calm voice he had, this city is worth more than your personal honour”  
Falcone stepped forward to gently stroke her cheek with his fingers before walking away. “In bocca al lupo my dear Helena” 

~~

Helena ran a hand through her hair as she stared out of the car window towards Gotham pier. Dark clouds were sweeping in from across the bay as the pitter patter of light rain could be heard bouncing against the car bonnet. A storm was brewing.   
“Look Helena, I wasn’t being honest with you” Harvey began. “But you weren’t ready for the truth”  
“Don’t lie, you didn’t tell me because you were ashamed” Helena replied coldly as Harvey opened the car door and climbed out.  
“Why are we stoping here?” she demanded as she followed, slamming the door shut in annoyance.  
Harvey opened the car boot as a shocked Helena looked at the sight that lay before her . There he was. Again. Oswald Cobblepot.  
“No, please. Please, I beg of you” Oswald pleaded as he threw his hands up in a manner of surrender. He was a mess. Dry blood etched a sharp line down his forehead and around his nostrils, his cheeks looked even paler than before.  
“This is the fool that snitched to Montoya and Allen. Falcone wants you to walk him to the end of that pier and put a bullet in his head. Then everybody knows you are with the program”  
“And if I don’t?” Helena glared angrily at Harvey.   
“Then I’m suppose to take you out and him too. And here’s the thing Helena I like you. I might not have the stomach to do it, but I’ll try. But if I don’t do it then someone else will get to you”  
“So let them” Helena shrugged. She wasn’t scared.   
“See here’s the thing Helena. You might think just cause you’ve no family you’ve got nothing to lose, but you haven’t thought it through yet. You haven’t thought about me. Or Jim. Jim’s fiancé Barbara. Rumour has it you used to date the city’s new DA back at boarding school”  
“What has that got to do with anything? she snapped.   
“Anyone in your world has so much to lose. You think just because your mommy and daddy got shot you know about the ugly side of life, but you don’t. This is war Helena. And we’re at war with scumbags like him” he waved his hand towards Oswald. “Sometimes in war, you gotta do a bad thing to do good right? So do you do this bad thing or do you let us all die?”  
Helena grit her teeth and glared angrily at Harvey as he offered her a gun wrapped in a red cloth. She shot one last look of disgust at her fellow detective before snatching the gun from his hands and grabbing Oswald’s shirt collar to pull him to his feet.   
“Walk” Helena ordered as she pushed Oswald in front of her. The dark clouds were edging their way closer to the city as the pair made their way slowly down the pier. He could barely walk. The pain from his injuries was clearly etched upon his face as he limped in front of her. Mooney must have done a real number on him, Helena thought. In the mob world, snitches got stitches, that was code. But could she really do this? Take his life to spare her own? She was not an easily shaken person but her hands trembled as she placed one foot in front of the other down the path to the waters edge.  
“Please Miss Bertinelli” Oswald begged for his life. “Just let me live. I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll be your slave for life”  
“Why did you tell me Pepper was framed?” Helena turned round to make sure she was out of Harvey’s earshot. “Why did you bring me into this?”  
“Listen to me, there’s a war coming, a terrible war” Oswald stammered. “Falcone is losing his grip, and his rivals are hungry. There will be chaos, rivers of blood in the streets, I know it. I can see it coming. You see I’m clever that way. I can help you, I can be your spy…”  
“Shut up” Helena hissed as she grabbed him roughly by his shirt collar and stared into his trembling eyes. “Turn around”   
“For gods sake, have mercy” Oswald pleaded as he stared tearfully into the angry waters before him. He could feel the gun pressing into the back of his skull and the trembling of the hands holding it. Even the rumbles of thunder from across the bay couldn’t disguise Helena’s laboured breathing. Maybe this was the one hand he had played wrong. He had been so sure when he begged Falcone to give Helena the job of killing him, she would spare his life. Now he wasn’t so sure. But yet the moment he had laid eyes on her in that alleyway he had had a vision that she would be the one to help him rise in Gotham. He just hoped that trusting her wouldn’t end up being the weakness that destroyed him.   
“Don’t ever come back to Gotham” she whispered into his ear as the sound of a single gunshot deafened his ears as she pushed him into the icy cold waters of the river. She had spared his life. Helena turned round to meet an approving nod from Harvey in the distance. He had fell for it. 

~~

She drove for what felt like an eternity to Wayne manor. Her hands still trembling from earlier events as she gripped the steering wheel tightly. She couldn’t kill him. Sure Cobblepot was no angel. He had probably done many a terrible thing under Fish Mooney’s employment, but he didn’t deserve to die. There was something intriguing about him. Why had he told her about framing Pepper? Was he really a foe or a friend in disguise? As she parked in the driveway she glanced up to catch sight of Bruce on the rooftop of the manor. Helena quickly jumped out of her car in panic as Alfred came out to meet her. She pointed towards the roof so as not to startle the kid.  
“Bollocks!” yelled Alfred. “Oi, Master Bruce! Get your bloody arse down off there! How many times have I told you?”   
Helena offered Bruce a reassuring wave as he finally made his way back down as the three of them settled in the study room.  
“Why were you up on the roof?” Helen finally asked as Alfred set down a tray before her with freshly made tea.  
“I’m learning to conquer fear” the young boy answered proudly.  
“Fear doesn’t need conquering” Helena shook her head. “Fear tells you where the edge is. Fear is a good thing”  
“You think I haven’t already told him that?” Alfred cut her off.   
“You came here for a reason I imagine” Bruce quickly changed the subject.  
“Yes” Helena took a deep breath, this was going to be hard. “ Mario Pepper didn’t kill your parents. He was framed by the police department and the mob working together. We killed an innocent man”  
“Right….so who did it then?” Alfred questioned.  
“I don’t know” Helena answered honestly.   
“Well, sterling work there, them, miss”  
“Bruce I’m sorry” Helena apologised as she sat her police badge down in front of the boy.  
“Don’t be” Bruce whispered. “I’m glad he’s still alive. I wanna see him again”  
Helena looked quietly at Bruce and saw the reflection of herself in his eyes. The fire. The burning desire to get revenge. She would give anything to confront her own family’s killer. Hell it was her reason for returning to Gotham. “I’m asking you to give me a second chance” she pleaded. “I’m going to find out who killed your parents and why. But I can only do that from the inside. So I’m asking you to stay silent about that I’ve told you…..your call”  
“Right well that’s sort of convenient, isn’t it?” Alfred rolled his eyes at her request.   
“Alfred!” Bruce interrupted as he picked up the police badge and studied the object carefully in his hands. With one swift motion he thrust the badge back into her hand and stood up to leave the room.  
“Thank you” Helena whispered. She still had a chance to keep that promise. To Bruce and to herself.

~~

The ringing in his ears had finally subsided as he delved hungrily into the remains of a half eaten sandwich. Oswald turned to glance momentarily at the dead fisherman that lay before his feet before setting his eyes back over the waters to Gotham city. As his pupils traced the skyline of the city, he had one thought on his mind. Helena Bertinelli. She had spared him. She had shown him a kindness no other soul apart from his mother ever had. She had seen something in him worth saving. And now it was time to get to work.


End file.
